Preston student hall in £137m deal

STUDENT accommodation in Preston has been acquired as part of a £137m deal.

The Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) has acquired 2,904 student rooms – the entire portfolio of the Cordea Savills Student Hall Fund.

Some 21% of USAF is held by United Students which did not give the exact locations of the buildings but said they were in its core locations of Leeds, Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Loughborough and Portsmouth.

The site in Preston – understood to be Leighton Hall in Leighton Street – is described as a “smaller asset” which, along with a block in Bradford, is likely to be sold.

The acquisition has been funded through a combination of cash resources and existing debt facilities following USAF’s fundraising in March.

Mark Allan, chief executive of Unite Students, which is headquartered in Bristol, said: “We are delighted that USAF has been able to complete this important acquisition from Cordea Savills. The combination of Unite’s existing operational presence across the country, USAF’s financial capacity and the group’s position as lessee on two highly reversionary assets means that a combination of Unite and USAF is uniquely well placed to unlock the potential of an excellent regional portfolio.”